The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-07-17
PRICE THREE CENTS.
A BOILER GOES ROCKETING.
CLEARS TWO SEVENTH WARD TENE-
MENTS ON A CdRROM

Fell 400 Feet in - Zee Line Away fio,u
where II Rose-kuocked - Bin Hole In .
wnii-Hurt One Boy Badly, Others Not
80 Badly, and Cured n wry Neck.
One OF tho two boilers of l.. A. Solomon Il
Brothers alcohol refinery at @ Gouverncur slip
blew up with tremendous report shortly
after o'clock yesterday afternoon. 1t was Of
the upright tubular kind six feet high by four
wide, and Weighing over u ton. 1t stood to the
west OF it's mate, bigger one OF the same sort,
In the yard of 8 Gouverneur slip which was
| rooted over with corrugated iron and used
as a boiler room. The engineer, Charles
Stetter had gone away an hour before
and nobody was in the building. when. with
roar like that of a park OF artillery tho weser-
ly boiler went of its base up through the roof
above 1t, and arose like Brobdingnagian
rocket In the air leaving the boiler house In
ruins. 1t rushed upward with southorly
slant. which brought 1t against the side wall Of
the refinery at tho fifth floor. The whirlins
mass Of iron kicked a hole in the thick
wall extending from floor to ceiling. q
distance of twelve feet and at least sixteen
feet wide, but didn't go through the hole It
carromed and sailed off high in air. 1t mounted
ut least a hundred foot high and flew almost
due north over Water street and Cherry street,
and the intervening blocks Of tenements, and
finally crashed down into the tagged yard OK
the big tenement at 1914 Monroe street, exactly
400 feet on bee line, according to a scale
map, from where 1t started, It fell with such
the IL pavement iei and sendine the Broken ass
flying in all directions, It. bounded Its own
s from the wall T the house, and as red hot
The stones 1t scattered about broke the rear
q widow ni 81 e q M
and broke a iot Of k1lck. knacks on t6e adioin.
iFfy httr ntynT fyIa "a n
syenns That It had I
ip, but Mrs Abaimann's daughter had Just left
the window II entered BY. The stone was too
2uss who e 1es IL se Second
paper on the fire escape outside q his room,
mount IN the air IT Il went 50 high. he says.
complete somersaults before It headed for the
sons N bs tha
leg inside Of the window When the boiler thSn-
tenement shook with tho shock and the sixteen
families in 1t thought Of earthquakes. AS Mr..
stairs. thought that the fire escape. on which
he had been sitting. had given away. and
rushed out to see whether he had survived the
Joseph McsTeeney, who also lives at 1874;
| described wildly how the boiler DrOke a lot OF
| clothesines which were stretched across the
yard before 1t reached the earth. Another wit
ness who saw the boiler start on its travels
so hot twenty minutes after its descent that he
couldn't stand within two feet OF It. 1t was
Leary, deaf junkman In active business, was
trying to buy It for old iron.
Although in it descent It did but little dam
ss hs d S psts fnd
Prarr ,to into hn yarH
Alexander Nc Donald two. little boys. were
Chunk Of iron. which broke sevsra! Of his ribs
and caused internal Injuries, which may prove
81 cbs S9es ssy m h the
back OF the head by an iron fragment.
The boys around there say that Daley Doyle,
sH e1 MS Five a minutes later he found
chunk was lodged on the roof of Gouver-
ae sD h reaey w9 t4a dbfsify
rolls window in tho rear tenement at 1862 Cher
fa se ofoot smoEe
stack itself remained standing.
1st sections s s@ S the na Gode
rf christianity tor Ct
boiler blow up and MAIN or kill people. Stetter
| said that when he went away, about O'Clock,
! he left the fires banked, with but go pounds OF
steam on, while the water gauge showed twas
| half full.
Both the boiler which blew up and its com.
panion were inspected last spring, and
the wonder is that the former pissed mus
ter. mechanic who saw it lie covered with
patches, rusty and bearing every mark OF age
and use, In addition to being broken and
smashed up by tho explosion said 1t was unit
for service, and that he would not have started
fire under 1t for n thousand dollars.
The Solomon Brothers. who make wood
alcohol. wouldn't let the reporters into thei1
yard They said their damage was about
$1,000. They haven't recovered the boiler yet,